Tom walked home with a backpack full of textbooks. He was disgusted. With hours of homework to do, two quizzes, and a French test, he was pretty sure he was going to fail no matter what he did. It wouldn't have been as bad, but the expansion was tonight, and he was unwilling to miss that. He barely noticed the gathering clouds until the snow started to fall. By the time he got home, a thin layer of powder had covered everything, turning his drab home into a winter wonderland. Tom barely noticed as he made his way home.

"Hey," Alex nudged him in the side. "Remember LAN's party tonight at my place."

"Yeah, yeah, I just need to drop Chloe off at home, and I'll be right over," Tom said as he jogged over to Chloe's school. Alex broke off, heading to her own place.

Tom found Chloe sitting alone on the school's stairs. Her classes had gotten out almost an hour before his, but Mom and Dad wouldn't pick her up, so it was up to him.

"Hey, munchkin," Tom called out to her.

Chloe's face instantly lit up.

"TOM!" she screamed as she ran over to him in a tackle hug.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tom asked, concerned at the over-affection.

"Nothing," she said, taking his hand as they started to walk home.

Tom considered digging into it but decided just to leave it.

Chloe was a bundle of joy as they walked home, holding her tongue out to collect snowflakes. When they finally got home, they were covered in snowflakes.

Tom opened the door only to close it as a wine bottle smashed into the door.

"Fuck you fucking whore! Where is my fucking beer?! Goddammit, you're just as useless as those fucking kids," his dad screamed.

"Fuck you, you fucking asshole. Maybe if you took your daddy's tampon out of your asshole, you might actually be worth something!" his mom screamed right back.

A wet, meaty smack echoed from the house.

"You fucking whore!!" his father roared.

Tom flinched backwards as he grabbed Chloe and pulled her closer. His heart felt like it was going to stop, and he broke out in a cold sweat as the shouting continued. He could hear his parents fighting inside. It was a bad one. Internally, Tom felt like a child again, hiding under his bed while his parents threatened to kill each other just outside his door.

Tom pulled Chloe to the side of the house, pulling her away from the front door as he stumbled backwards. His eyes never left the door, and his breathing grew heavy.

"Tom?" Chloe asked, getting his attention.

Tom looked down to see his little sister. She was as terrified as he was. Somehow, that gave him courage, or maybe it just made him realize that he didn't have the luxury of being afraid.

"Let's go get your stuff," Tom said as they circled to the side of the house where their rooms were.

"No way, in seven hells am I leaving you with those two," Tom muttered.

Even if that were his initial plan, he wouldn't be able to leave Chloe with those two nut jobs when they got like this.

"You said a bad word," Chloe said.

"Hell isn't a bad word; it's a place," Tom said as he found his bedroom window.

He turned to Chloe. "Stay here and stay quiet."

Sliding open his bedroom window, he slipped inside. He dumped his school books on his bed. Carefully opening the vent in his room, he took out his laptop and full immersion helmet, the only things he owned of any real value and the only two things he needed to keep away from his parents at all costs. Stuffing them inside his backpack, he grabbed some spare clothes, his Noralon guidebook, and as many pencils and paper for Chloe as he could stuff in the bag.

Slipping back outside, Tom carefully closed his window so as not to alert his parents that he was home. Next, he moved on to Chloe's bedroom window and repeated the process. He dumped her school supplies, grabbed some clothes, and stuffed her elephant.

Tom slipped out just as the screaming reached a new height.

"You think your fucking better than me bitch!?!"

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SMACK

"You."

SMACK

"ARE"

SMACK

"NOTHING"

SMACK

Tom winced with every meaty smack as he pulled Chloe away from the house.

"Is mommy going to be ok?" Chloe asked.

Bless her heart, Chloe really was an angel.

"Probably not," he said. "But unlike us, she can leave whenever she wants."

"Where are we going," Chloe asked.

"You're just coming with me to Alex's house," he said, trying to cheer her up. "You'll get to eat pizza and play with Lucy all night."

"Lucy?! Yeah!!" she squealed in delight.

Tom smiled at her before he vindictively dialed 911 and waited anxiously for someone to pick up.

"911, what's your emergency?" a calm voice on the other end answered.

Tom took a deep breath, trying to steady his breathing before pinching his nose to obscure his voice better. He didn't want his dad to find out who called the cops. "I... I need to report a domestic disturbance," he stammered out.

The dispatcher's tone shifted to one of concern. "I'm here to help. Can you please provide me with your address?"

Tom quickly gave his house address, then continued, "It's the neighbors next door. I can hear yelling, and I think things are getting physical. I'm really worried about them."

"Thank you for reporting this, sir," the dispatcher replied. "Officers are on their way. Please --"

"Sorry, but I have to go now." Tom cut in, hanging up.

He wasn't going to let his dad touch Chloe ever, and if his mom ended up in jail with his dad, all the better.

Tom smiled at Chloe as they walked to Alex's house, the snow coming down even harder. He hoped his parents would end up in jail. It was no less than they deserved. That just left one last problem he considered as he watched his little sister skipping through the snow. How was he going to break this to the guys?

----------------------------------------

Tom tried to look innocent as Alex opened the door.

"Hi, Alex," Chloe said.

"Hello, pumpkin. What are you doing here?" Alex said, hugging Chloe.

"Mom and Dad went out to drink beer for the night, so Tom said I get to have a sleepover with Lucy," Chloe said happily.

"Did he?" Alex asked, looking at Tom. "Well, I think we can set you upstairs with Lucy, and you can watch a movie."

"Really?!" Chloe ran inside.

"Hey, take off your shoes," Tom shouted after her.

His smile died as Alex turned to him.

"I'm not sure if I should complain about you bringing her over or not," Alex muttered.

"I'm not missing tonight, and I wasn't going to leave her home alone." Tom protested as he walked inside the house.

They found Chloe buried inside Lucy's fur. The massive black dog was lying on the ground, allowing Chloe to smother herself in its belly. Lucy belonged to Alex. She was a massive black dog with fluffy fur and floppy ears. Tom didn't know what breed she was, and Alex didn't seem to have any idea either other than that she was part poodle, part really big dog.

"She's so fluffy," Chloe squealed in glee.

"Hey, Tom," Hector said as he entered the room. "Something happened at home?"

"Mom and Dad ran off to a bar for the night." Tom lied.

"Well, that's terrible," Skippy said sarcastically. "Hey Tom, do you want a beer?"

"Mmm, I love beer," Chloe said.

"Here's a beer, little lady," Skippy said, handing her a beer.

Tom snatched the bottle out of skippy hand instantly, his heart jumping into his throat.

Tom froze for a moment.

"Chloe, have you ever had a beer?" Tom asked.

"Maybe," Chloe responded.

Tom relaxed; maybe it was how Chloe said no when she didn't want to say no. Then he turned to Skippy.

"Skippy, I love you like a brother, but if you give my sister a beer again, I'm shoving this can up your ass."

"Sorry, Tom, I just don't swing that way. Hector's mom, on the other hand, loves shoving large cylinders up her ass. Some of them are even plastic," Skippy said.

"Fuck you," Hector called out, throwing his empty pop can at the back of skippy's head.

Skippy leaned out of the way as the can sailed past his head.

"You need to pick that up, you know?" Skippy said cheekily.

Tom rolled his eyes at Skippy's antics.

"Come on, Chloe, you and Lucy can watch The Princess Bride upstairs," Alex said as she loaded up a plate with pizza and other snacks they had prepared for the night. Chloe shot up and followed after her.

"Does anyone else think Princess Bride is a good movie?" Skippy asked.

"Yeah," Tom said. "Why did you phrase that like a question?"

He asked as he entered the other room and quickly pulled his laptop out of his backpack.

"I just think The Princess Bride isn't a good title. Movies are great, but I always feel like I'm about to watch Barbie when I hear the words 'Princess Bride.'" Skippy said

"Hey, guys. I hate to be that person, but it starts in six minutes. Also, Tom, you're the face of the party," Hector said as he slipped on the gear.

"Oh, come on. You're already making me the healer, the party leader, and the face. Now, do I need to dump points into charisma?"

Alex came back downstairs just as Tom was finishing up, and Skippy was putting on his own helmet.

"Alright, Chloe's upstairs with Lucy. I put on Netflix and gave her more than enough toys to play with. I think we should be okay," Alex said as she leaped into her own chair, putting on her own full immersion gear.

"Alex, are you guys seriously making me the face of the party?" Tom asked.

"Of course, I want to see sexy Tom," Alex winked at him as she slipped on her helmet and entered the game.

Tom rolled his eyes as he slipped on the helmet. He turned it on, unknowingly entering Noralon for the last time.